Still no sign of when another Brexit vote will take place

In case you’re wondering, although the UK is still due to leave the EU on March 29, there is still no date for when MPs will vote on the Brexit deal.

Nothing has been announced as yet.

16:26

Anna Soubry: Panto season

MPs are shouting at Tory arch-remainer Anna Soubry, who is saying:

What has changed is the view of the British people. [Jeers]...I know it’s nearly pantomime season, but oh yes it has.

The Speaker then has to step in and tell them all to shut up.

16:23

Stroud MP David Drew: calls today a "shambles"

16:22

PM warns second referendum risks ‘dividing the country’

Mrs May says: “Those members that continue to disagree, need to shoulder the responsibility of advocating an alternative solution that can be delivered, and do so without ducking its implications.

“If you want a second referendum to overturn the result of the first, be honest that this risks dividing the country again when as a House we should be striving to be bringing it back together.

“If you want to remain part of the single market and customs union, be open that this would require free movement, rule-taking across the economy and ongoing financial contributions, none of which, in my view, are compatible wit the result of the referendum.”

16:18

‘Chaotic and ridiculous’

Former Tory attorney general Dominic Grieve - who had a hand in rocking the boat last week for the PM, helping setting us on today’s course - tells the Commons that this process has so far ‘ruthlessly undermined’ our sovereign rights.

Surely we should go back to the public and offer them the alternative of remaining in the EU?

Theresa May says the ‘people decided’ on the referendum.

To throw it back to the public would undermine that, she says.

Labour’s Yvette Cooper points out that Theresa May and her cabinet had repeatedly insisted there would be no delay to the vote.

How can she possibly talk about duty and honour and faith in politicians if we cannot even trust the most basic things her ministers are saying?

No, says the PM. I consulted the cabinet late morning.

The delay took place because of concerns raised by the house about the withdrawal agreement, she adds, avoiding the question.

But:

There will come a point when it will be up to every member of this house to determine whether they accept the outcome of the referendum.

16:14

Backstop? Backstop? Is this some kind of sandwich? Does it hold the back door open?

If you think a backstop is some distant relative of a doorstop sandwich, or is something you use to keep your back door open, think again.

This is not a backstop (Image: Handout)

Here’s a simple guide to the backstop, courtesy of our friends at Liverpool Echo.

- Backstop: this is the intended safety net to avoid a hard border in Northern Ireland. It’s only meant to come into force if a deal between the UK and the EU cannot be agreed before the end of the transition period in December 2020. A deal is needed to make arrangements for the fact that the UK will cease to be a member of the single market when it leaves the EU, and so goods crossing borders will need to be inspected.

16:02

Ken Clarke, Father of the House: Backstop is inevitable

On Europe, the house is divided into factions, not parties, says the veteran Tory remainer.

It is clear there is currently no majority for any single course of action.

But no other governments will start negotiating with us on new arrangements while Britain explores what they want, he says.

We are tied to the Good Friday Agreement and a permanently open Irish border.

Therefore, the backstop is ‘inevitable’.

15:51

"Bad deal for Britain"

The leader of the Labour opposition, Jeremy Corbyn, is now speaking.

“This is a bad deal for Britain, for our economy, and a bad deal for our democracy. Our country deserves better,” he says.

He calls for Theresa May to step aside if she can’t deliver Brexit.

15:47

Still fighting for the deal

PM: I am still determined to get this deal over the line

Theresa May is saying Brexit must be on behalf of people who voted for it, feeling they had been historically ignored.

Places that didn’t get much attention at elections and didn’t get much coverage on the news had made their voice heard.

That meant she ‘had to deliver for them’, she said.

Her deal protects jobs, security and the union, Britain’s borders.

I am determined to secure all the reassurances this house requires to get this deal over the line.

15:43

"The right deal for the country"

I still believe there is a majority to be won in the house in support of my deal, she says, if she can get extra reassurances on the backstop.

But the more fundamental question is, she says:

Does this house want to deliver Brexit?

There are more jeers, including from the SNP.

If the house wants to do deliver that with the agreement with the EU, ‘we all have to ask ourselves whether we are prepared to make a compromise’.

There will be no enduring or successful Brexit unless both sides are willing to compromise, she insists, adding:

If you want a second referendum to overturn the result of the first, be honest that this risks dividing the country again when as a house we should be striving to bring it back together.

15:40

PM: I will go back to Brussels

Our union will only endure with the consent of people in Northern Ireland, Theresa May is telling MPs.

Both the UK and the EU are ‘committed’ to having a final agreement in place by the end of 2020, she says, meaning the backstop is unlikely to be required.

The treaty is also clear that the backstop ‘can only ever be temporary’, she adds.

But - but - this has not been, she concedes, enough to convince members.

As a result she will go back to EU leaders.

15:35

Vote deferred

Prime Minister Theresa May has deferred the vote until a later date.

15:31

Moments away...

Theresa May has taken her seat in the House of Commons and will be speaking momentarily.

15:26

“It’s time to get the adults into the room”

Cheltenham Labour Party Chairman Joanna Hughes has told Gloucestershire Live she believes it’s time for the Government to wake up.

(Image: Rob Lacey)

“There is no way forward for this ‘worst of all possible worlds’ plan.

“We know that people all over the country are worn out by Brexit. They want it resolved. But we cannot take such a monumental decision in a spirit of exhaustion.

“Mrs May keeps telling us her deal is the only option, that there ‘is no alternative’.”

In anticipation of a statement by Mrs May this afternoon she added: “Labour will do all it can to bring our country together after two years of self-harm and a Government at war with itself. It’s time to get the adults into the room.”

15:20

Backstop 'must be renegotiated'

Both Graham Brady - chair of the 1922 committee and Altrincham and Sale West MP - and Iain Duncan Smith have said in the last few minutes that ultimately the backstop must be renegotiated.

Graham Brady has been more vocal than usual over the past few days, having warned on Friday that the PM should consider delaying tomorrow’s vote.

It was a significant intervention, a sign of the scale of the backlash within the Tory backbenches.

This lunchtime he told the BBC that it is the backstop Tory MPs want to see changed: they want the PM to go back to Brussels and renegotiate.

I think we are looking for progress on the agreement and hoping we can get to a point where we can support the government and get this matter through and settled.

Similarly IDS told Sky there would be ‘no point’ in delaying tomorrow’s vote unless it was possible to go back to the EU and change the deal.

Theresa May has repeatedly said she can’t get any further concessions, however, but it appears that now she has been backed into a corner by her own MPs, she may have to go back to Brussels, deeply politically wounded, and request further movement.

15:19

Wishing you just win at the Euromillions and this could all go away?

But wait: what will happen to our chances of winning in the Euromillions if we leave the EU?

Here’s another video for you to watch while we wait for Theresa May to speak.

15:04

Vote of no confidence?

The leader of the Liberal Democrats, Sir Vince Cable, has told the BBC he will call for a vote of no confidence - but says it is up to the Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn to do so.

October 10 2017 Photograph SIMON PIZZEY Vince Cable with his new book Times and Sunday Times Cheltetenham Festival of Literature

The leader of the Scottish National Party, Nicola Sturgeon, has also said they will support Labour in that motion.

14:58

What happens next?

It’s important to be clear from the outset that: nobody knows.

Beyond that, current whispers appear to suggest that Theresa May will go back to Brussels and ask for guarantees that the backstop won’t last indefinitely. But it isn’t obvious EU leaders will be up for that.

I don’t think we should ever forget how we got to this point. UK decided to leave the EU and the UK government decided to take lots of options off the tale, whether it was staying in the single market or customs union or Northern Ireland specific backstop.

The reason we’ve ended up in the solution we have is because of the red lines the UK itself laid down.

We’ve already offered a lot of concessions along the way. We ended up with the backstop and this is withdrawal agreement because of the red lines the UK laid down along the way.

That could, of course, be part of an EU negotiating strategy - but reports at the weekend suggested that Brussels would not be willing to fundamentally shift on the deal currently on the table.

If the PM faces MPs with more-or-less this deal anyway?

She could go down to a historically catastrophic defeat, losing by 200 or more votes.

At that point if she didn’t resign, you can be pretty sure those letters from Tory MPs to 1922 chair Graham Brady would go in in significant numbers.

14:52

Theresa May heading to House of Commons

The Prime Minister is now leaving No 10 Downing Street and is making the short trip to the House of Commons.

14:18

Brexit quiz

Do you know the difference between a back-stop and a transition period?

Or when you think of a back-stop you wonder whether it props open the back door?! Maybe you think the ECJ is a new boy band.

Here’s a short video to help test your knowledge on all things Brexit.

What happened to lead up today's announcement?

Cabinet ministers are said to have lobbied the PM throughout last week, pleading with her to postpone the vote and look to renegotiate the deal, with focus on altering the so-called backstop.

The PM spent the weekend speaking with European and EU leaders, including Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar and president of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, before allegedly coming to the conclusion that the meaningful vote had to be pushed back.

It is not yet known what was said in those phone calls or whether Mrs May has been promised anything new but the EU has repeatedly said in recent weeks that there will be no reopening of the negotiations.

Many in the Tory Party know that the deal, as it stands, cannot get through Parliament. There are huge objections to the terms of the backstop – a provision that, in order to avoid a hard border in Ireland, the UK would join a customs union arrangement with the EU if trade talks stall.

The backstop would then only be allowed to be revoked if both the UK and EU agreed – a position that some MPs fear could leave Britain “trapped” in a customs union for the foreseeable future.

13:12

Here's a short video explaining the difference between a hard and soft Brexit

13:10

Totally lost in all of this?

If you are struggling to make much sense out of all of this then our colleagues at the Liverpool Echo have provided a handy guide about what could happen.